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The Latest In Tech News InformationSat, 15 Dec 2018 06:52:52 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=5.0.1125253101Beyond Siri: The World Premiere of Viv with Dag Kittlaushttp://calixtechnews.com/2016/05/beyond-siri-the-world-premiere-of-viv-with-dag-kittlaus/
http://calixtechnews.com/2016/05/beyond-siri-the-world-premiere-of-viv-with-dag-kittlaus/#respondWed, 11 May 2016 21:57:00 +0000http://calixtechnews.com/?p=1091Anyone with an iPhone is familiar with Siri (Siri was introduced in 2011 was first made available in the iPhone 4s). She is everyone’s personal assistant on the go and although often underutilized is viewed by many as a precursor of artificial intelligence. Sire was developed out of SRI International Artificial Intelligence Center, and is a offshoot of their CALO project. Dag Kittlaus, on of the original Siri co-founders, unveiled Viv at TechCrunch’s Disrupt event in Brooklyn New York. Viv is a new artificial intelligence personable assistant platform that enables developers to distribute their products through an intelligent, conversational interface.

]]>http://calixtechnews.com/2016/05/beyond-siri-the-world-premiere-of-viv-with-dag-kittlaus/feed/01091March 21 Apple Announcements: Environment & Healthhttp://calixtechnews.com/2016/03/march-21-apple-announcements-environment-health/
http://calixtechnews.com/2016/03/march-21-apple-announcements-environment-health/#respondTue, 29 Mar 2016 06:04:02 +0000http://calixtechnews.com/?p=957It’s amazing to think that just 40 years ago on April 1, 1976, this technology powerhouse was brought to life. Celebrating it’s 40th birthday this year, Apple delivered a keynote today that did not seize to impress. Highlighting a mobile line that we all know oh-so well and introducing some exciting new devices, through this recap, we’re going to explore the beauty of what is to come within the next two months from Apple!

To date, there are 1 billion Apple devices in use all around the world and the iPhone was designed for just that purpose, to appeal to the wants and needs of the consumer. In the wake of recent events regarding security and privacy, Tim Cook opened today’s keynote speaking on privacy at Apple. Stating that it is Apple’s responsibility to ensure it’s customer data is safe and secure, Apple will continue to uphold it’s customer information privacy and protection and will not shrink in this matter.

Environmental Impact

Now for the highlights of today’s announcement. Starting first with the environment! In 2014, Apple set the goal of running on 100% renewable energy resources. As of 2016, the company is proud to announce that it’s running on 93% renewable energy globally throughout the company; 100% in 23 countries including the United Stated and China! In some places, the energy was purchased through the existing energy sources. In others like Foshan Province, China, Apple built a 40 mega watt solar farm without disturbing the local population of Yaks, allowing for energy generation and assisted hay production for the local yak ranchers – sending power to the 34 retail stores and 19 offices in the local area. In Singapore where there isn’t enough room to put solar panels on the ground, Apple installed over 800 solar panels on building rooftops. 100% of the company’s US data centers run on either solar, wind or water energy. So next time you send an iMessage or make a FaceTime video call, know you are helping to impact the environment in a more positive way.

Image: TechCrunch

In addition to energy, Apple is helping to improve the environment through forestry as well, by protecting the forests hat produce the paper used Apple. Currently 99% of packaging comes from recycled paper or sustainable managed forests. Eventually the goal is to move to all paper packaging. To date, Apple has worked with the Conservation Fund to conserve over 36,000 acres of working forest in Maine and North Carolina. Also, a partnership is in the works with the World Wildlife Fund to improve over 1M acres of forest in China, making the ultimate goal in all of this to add to the world’s supply of recycled paper rather than take from it.

The reuse and recycle initiative many of us avid Apple enthusiasts know and use was highlighted, introducing a new program that is sure to create an even more efficient way to reuse an old device. Apple works tirelessly to ensure that it’s devices do no end up in a technology graveyard somewhere, so heavy investments are made to keep that from happening. Introducing Liam – the robot who disassembles recycled Apple devices for reuse of all of it’s components to reuse in items such as a precision tool or the silver on a solar panel. If you’re feeling environmentally friendly and want to contribute to the cause, go to your local Apple Retail Store or online to the Apple website to contribute your devices today!

Health

In 2015, ResearchKit was introduced with the purpose of providing an easy way for people to participate in research studies as well as provide an easy way to collect data that is both accurate and frequent. Here are a couple milestones since:

Parkinson’s Study = Largest in history in less than 24 hours

MT Sinai Asthma app collected data in all 50 states

MGH (Mass General Hospital) has found there are subgroups to Type 2 Diabetes

Duke Health has created an app that allows for testing of autism in your child through just the use of games and the forward facing camera to track familial expressions

Epilepsy app that uses Apple Watch — eventually hoping to make an epilepsy detector

Igeahub.com

With ResearchKit revolutionizing discovery, CareKit was introduced! This app is “framework to build apps that empower people to take an active role in their care.” The first app to be released will be for Parkinson’s disease – showing such things as response trends before and after medication to help determine the path moving forward.

Institutions like University of Rochester, UCSF, John Hopkins Medicine, PDCNY (Parkinson’s Disease Care, NY), Stanford medicine and Emory Healthcare will be using it.

CareKit will be available in April

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http://calixtechnews.com/2016/03/march-21-apple-announcements-environment-health/feed/0957Big Defense, Small Presence: BitDefenderhttp://calixtechnews.com/2015/12/big-defense-small-presence-bitdefender/
http://calixtechnews.com/2015/12/big-defense-small-presence-bitdefender/#respondMon, 07 Dec 2015 15:52:54 +0000http://calixtechnews.com/?p=546As if it was following hot on the heels of the underwhelming and critically panned protection OneCare from Microsoft, BitDefender has provided the market with a complete all-in-one solution for any PC user, yet runs at a whisper pace despite how robust and efficient the suite is at protecting your devices.

Though the suite is advertised as a full solution for the serious computer/device user, network administrator or business solution seeker, the UI is rather clean, easy and clearly developed to be as accessible to any level of user, giving direct access to the applications most commonly used functions, such as quick scans and the update utility. One of the immediate draws of BitDefender is how incognito it is when it comes to general operation. Though the entire security suite is rather robust and can perform many functions either manually or automated, you can almost forget you have it installed once you have it running in Autopilot mode.

Image: CalixTech News

Given that users prefer to install an anti virus suite that follows “set it and forget it” course-of-action, it is quite the blessing that BitDefender pulls this off seamlessly, allowing the user complete protection of their systems and devices with little to no input. The usual options such as Quick Scan and Start-up Optimization are available in the initial splash screen, but as a replacement for last years Tools menu is a list of modules that details each function:

Antivirus

Web Protection

Vulnerability Check

Firewall

Intrusion Detection

Antispam

Ransomware Protection

Each module has it’s own group of settings that can be tweaked to your liking, as well as offering several different scans for any possible flaw in your PCs security armor. There are also privacy modules, including:

Data Protection

Password Manager

Safepay

Parental Control

File Encryption

Image: CalixTech News

Image: CalixTech News

The Startup Optimizer and OneClick Optimizer are very welcome additions to Total Security 2016, adding an additional means of maintaining your PC health, cleaning out what many PC users consider to be the junk files and data that are bogging their systems down or just wish to keep things uncluttered and pristine. I had compared the results of the OneClick Optimizer against CCleaner after an entire weekend of liberal internet usage, uninstalls and updates and the OneClick Optimizer outperformed CCleaner by a significant margin and didn’t warrant a re-run.

Given the plethora of features and individual tasks that can be performed or assigned to the Autopiloit, Total Security 2016 is truly the all-in-one solution that any user can benefit from immensely.

]]>http://calixtechnews.com/2015/12/big-defense-small-presence-bitdefender/feed/0546Windows 10 Reviewhttp://calixtechnews.com/2015/08/2015816windows-10-review/
Mon, 17 Aug 2015 01:12:12 +0000http://calixtechnews.com/2015/08/2015816windows-10-review/On July 29th of this year Microsoft made windows 10 operating system available for free download for windows 7 and windows 8 users. Outside of a few exclusions, windows users were prompted to reserve the free update several weeks in advance of the release. Now instead of two disjointed operating systems like you had in windows 8, windows 10 is well conceived and is everything windows 8 was supposed to be.

Image Credit: Microsoft

Once installed windows 10 is very similar to windows 7 with the return of the traditional start menu, except now with the live tiles first introduced in windows 8. Another change made to the start menu is how customizable it is now. You can add or remove tiles, rearrange them, or even resize the start menu itself which is convenient. Another great idea that I imagine translates well into windows tablets is the new settings feature. Settings, not a replacement for the control panel, is just a shortcut for those of us already accustomed to making changes through the control panel and a very user friendly option for those who aren’t.

Image Credit: Microsoft

The windows store apps are now universal and can run on the desktop instead of just the tile system which makes use of them less frustrating. The overall desktop experience has become a lot more intuitive. These apps you can mix and match with other windows software purchased or downloaded of the web. All these programs can now be used in a brand new feature called virtual desktops which allows users to simulate the use of several monitors for the sake of productivity.

Image Credit: Microsoft

Two other new features are Cortana, the voice activated personal assistant and Microsoft’s answer to Apples Siri, and Microsoft Edge. Edge, once known as project Spartan, is the replacement for internet explorer and a welcome one at that. A vast improvement to internet explorer, Edge features a new rendering engine, a reading mode that helps with screen clutter, and full integration with Cortana. Cortana works better the more you use it, learning and gaining experience over time, how to better serve you.

Image Credit: Microsoft

In all Windows 10 is a vast improvement to its predecessor. The changes aren’t just cosmetic but conceptual and a win for Microsoft. Far from flawless, it is still much better than windows 8 and worth the download.